Despite being a relatively new addition to Icelanders’ wardrobes, the lopapeysa has become a symbol of national identity and is now as Icelandic as skyr (a yogurt-type dairy product) or the sagas of the medieval settlers. In the words of Icelandic writer Árni Árnason, the lopapeysa “resembles the country’s rugged nature and reminds us of the history of farming and fishing when it provided its wearer with a vital shield from the disastrous weather one can encounter in the wild.” When Icelanders wear these sweaters, they’re drawing close the craftsmanship of their people, as well as old cultural ties to their sheep. Árnason thinks that lopapeysa “appeals greatly to the disillusioned and globalised 21st Century traveller.”
I will forever love sweaters. Hand crafted sweaters make me feel nostalgic for a time before commodity production, just like all those Icelanders who made this sweater popular. I slip one on and it feels like armour against a hostile world. My favourite sweaters come from Inis Meain, a small Irish company on the island of Inis Meain founded by an Irish scholar to create heritage Irish sweaters using old designs and Irish fabrics, similar to the goal of the lopapeysa. Sweaters are a hug in a cold, cold world.
Looked it up that’s a 500$ sweater what the fuck lol who can afford that shit???
When your only vice is clothing it makes a lot more sense. My alcohol/drugs budget just goes entirely to my beautiful beautiful fabrics. Plus, when your sweaters are insanely well built, they last for decades and you only need like two.
Thrift store sweaters also last at least a decade and they are not $500. I mean you do you but that is a fucking ridiculous price for the average person
Oh agreed, I buy stuff like that not because it's "practical" but because I love clothing and fabrics and they're beautiful like a piece of art and love the mission that maker is working towards. Sweaters like that are strictly for enthusiasts!
Enthusiasts aka bougies lol I’m just fucking with you I’m in a shit mood so I gotta rag on someone and you pulled the short straw Richie rich
:sankara-salute: Every bougie fuck like me needs my Two Minutes of Hate once in a while. Rag away comrade.
Those sweaters are fucking dope though. I got one a few years ago (when I just got off pills) and got fatter and had to give it away :/
I was all ready to go all "akshually" on this article but it's probably correct. Woolen clothing has a very long history in Iceland but the design of the lopapeysa, which just means woolen sweater, is younger.
There is a threat to the industry from more commercial, industrialized sources but there is a handknitting association here that makes them and you get a certificate and everything.
Long live the lopapeysa!
